[blogcritics.org]

Music Review: The Rolling Stones - Stripped and No Security
Written by David Bowling
Published June 21, 2008
Part of The Discographer

Stripped, released in 1995, and No Security, released in 1998, and were the eighth and ninth live albums released by The Rolling Stones. Sometimes I wish the Stones would have put as much thought into their modern day studio albums as they did into these two live albums. Conceptually the albums are well thought out and as such are interesting.

Stripped may be the best Rolling Stones album of the past twenty years. It is as the title implies. The album is basically Jagger, Richards, Watts, Wood, and Jones with Chuck Leavell in support. The songs were recorded live in the studio and in small venues. There are some electric guitars present but it is the acoustic sound that makes the album unique and creative. Best of all is the choice of the songs. Many obscure tracks and a few gems are resurrected for creative reinterpretations.

Bob Dylan’s “Like A Rolling Stone” received the most airplay when this album was released. If you are going to interpret Dylan, and particularly this song, you had better be not only good but inventive, and the Stones are both. They cruise through a rocking, rollicking version with Mick Jagger providing stellar vocals.

The album is mostly a highlight reel. “Street Fighting Man” is given an acoustic-electric treatment which changes the tenor of the song but not the intensity. “Not Fade Away” returns forty plus years after its release and Mick Jagger’s copying of Buddy Holly’s vocal intonations is priceless. “Dead Flowers,” from Sticky Fingers, retains its country roots and features an appropriately insincere vocal by Jagger. The old Robert Johnson tune, “Love In Vain,” is given a fine blues treatment featuring Woody on slide guitar. This version of “Wild Horses” is definitive.

I would love to see the Stones perform this way on tour. It would just be the Stones sitting around and casually playing their songs without hype or fireworks. The problem is the Stones can still sell out stadiums and arenas, so it is a question of economics. Stripped presents the Rolling Stones at their best and as they should be every so often.

No Security does not have the brilliance of Stripped but is interesting in its own right. I call this a fill in the gaps live album. The songs had either never been released on a Stones live album or at least had not appeared for a very long time.

“You Got Me Rocking” features a fine Keith Richards guitar solo with Woody in support. “Out Of Control” and “Flip The Switch” both rock nicely and it is nice to hear live versions of these studio tracks. “Respectable,” from Some Girls, is vastly superior to the largely forgotten studio version. “Sister Morphine” is still chilling and will always bring Marianne Faithful to mind. Taj Mahal joins the Stones on “Corinna” and chugs through an excellent version of this song.

A real miss on the album is the Dave Matthews collaboration on “Memory Hotel.” He takes Keith’s place and duets with Mick Jagger. This is a strange vocal pairing at best and makes me long for good old Keith.

No Security features mostly fine, but not outstanding performances. It is probably an album that can be skipped unless you want to, as I wrote earlier, fill in the gaps.

Finally; can anyone tell me the names of the two people on the cover of the compact disc?


The Rolling Stones - Bridges to Babylon
Written by David Bowling
Published June 20, 2008
Part of The Discographer

It had been three years since the last Rolling Stones studio album and the group was preparing to leave on another massive tour. The Stones would play 108 shows over the course of a year before four million fans and gross over a quarter of a billion dollars. Mick Jagger was writing songs for another solo project and did not want to record a new Rolling Stones album. Ronnie and Keith outvoted him 2 to 1 and so Bridges to Babylon was born. It would be their last studio album for eight years.

Bridges to Babylon was recorded over a four-month period during which Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were constantly at odds over the album’s vision. Richards wanted a back- to-basics sound and Jagger wanted a modern-techno sound. This animosity created an album of disparate and varied songs that ultimately turned out all right. Eleven years after its release I call this album good but not great, pleasurable but not overly creative and very playable but not essential.

I tend to think the Keith Richards contributions are the strongest. He sings an unprecedented three songs on this album. “You Don’t Have To Mean It” is a nice reggae effort and he provides superior guitar lines to support the vocal. The final two songs of the release, “Thief In The Night” and “How Can I Stop” are typical Stones songs of sex and rock ‘n’ roll. Richards vocals strain successfully to provide a strong ending to the album. These are totally Keith Richards’s creations as Jagger had walked out of the sessions and did not appear or work on the tracks.

The most interesting track was the funky and interesting “Anybody Seen My Baby.” It is an infectious song with some rapping and you almost want to sing along. After the track was completed Keith Richards realized that they had inadvertently copied the melody from a K.D. Lang song. It all turned out well as she did not really care and was happy to accept a writing credit.

“Might As Well Get Juiced” was the prototype Mick Jagger song on the album. It featured drum loops and a dance beat. Jagger played some fine harmonica but I have never been a big fan of the Stones in dance mode. This song and others carried on Jagger’s inclination to make music similar to what was hot at the time.

“Gunface” was the hardest rocking song on the album and possibly of the Stones 90’s output. Keith’s guitar rips along in support of lyrics of violence. “Low Down” and “Saint Of Me” are average rockers but are not offensive. Mick does hit the spot with the ballad, “Always Suffering.” He seems to be focused and proves that most of the time, at least for the Rolling Stones, less is more.

Sometimes The Rolling Stones' members were their own worst enemies and victims of their past successes. This was most apparent in the studio but rarely so in concert. I thing Bridges to Babylon is under-rated but could have been better. My feeling is that there were just too many people in the studio. There are nine bassists credited on the album and Charlie Watts hired veteran studio drummer Jim Keltner to sit in when he was disinterested. Still, while the album produced no breakout or truly memorable songs, when taken as a whole, it remains a good listening experience.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kind of a funny...Respectable is better than the album version? Wild Horses is definitive? Gunface is the hardest rocking song on the album and of the 90s? Did he not hear the first tune on Bridges? Doesn't even mention Out Of Control.

Why are people allowed to write crap like this?

I like that first review, lots of good words for people who are not keen on Stones but want to know and listen to a little bit more.

I guess this guy has a lot of time on his hands:

The Rolling Stones - Voodoo Lounge
Written by David Bowling
Published June 19, 2008
Part of The Discographer

See also:
» Music Review: Love - Forever Changes and Four Sail
» Music Review: Totimoshi - Milagrosa
» Music Review: Anthony David - Acey Duecy
Change was in the air for The Rolling Stones. It had been about five years since the release of the band's last studio album, Steel Wheels. Keith Richards and Mick Jagger had both released solo albums in the interim. The biggest change was that original member and bass player Bill Wyman had retired. Jagger and Richards had tried to convince him otherwise but at age 55 Wyman decided it was time to move on. Darryl Jones would be the new bassist in the studio and on the road. Ronnie Wood was finally elevated to full member status after 18 years and would now receive a percentage rather than a salary.

The Rolling Stones was preparing to launch another massive world tour and Mick Jagger and Keith Richards decided to release a new album to tour behind. The resulting Voodoo Lounge was a back to basics effort for the Stones. Many people have called this sparse album as calculated but it received mostly positive reviews and reached number two on the American charts. While the album would ultimately contain no classic songs it would contain a number of very good ones. The title was taken from an abandoned kitten that Keith Richards adopted and named Voodoo.

A number of the tracks from Voodoo Lounge received radio airplay and charted on the new mainstream rock charts. “You Got Me Rocking” (2), “Sparks Will Fly” (30) and “I Go Wild” (20) were all rocking numbers that featured driving rhythms and consistently excellent guitar work between Wood and Richards. One of the Stones better modern-day ballads, “Out Of Tears,” would also chart (14) and feature an effecting Mick Jagger vocal. These songs would propel Voodoo Lounge to winning the Grammy award as the best rock album of the year.

Keith Richards was in fine form on this album. It contained some of his beat guitar playing in years. “The Worst” with some wonderful steel guitar by Ron Wood and “Thru and Thru” both featured fine Keith Richards vocals and continued to show his maturation as a writer.

There were a number of other above average songs contained on the album. “New Faces” featured the use of a dulcimer and harpsichord that would have made Brian Jones smile. The ballad, “Moon Is Up,” has some creative drumming by Charlie Watts who recorded some of the parts in a stairwell to crate an echo. He is supported by Ronnie Wood on a pedal steel guitar. “Sweethearts Together” presents unusual harmonies by Mick and Keith. “Suck On The Jugular” is a funky tune that takes the Stones back to the late 1970s.

In the final analysis Voodoo Lounge is not a great album but is a consistently good one. It may be a bit contrived in places but it is difficult constantly being The Rolling Stones.

I agree that Respectable is better than the album version. Wild Horses is definitive is eternally better than on SF. Don't know about the Gunface remark though. He's right on the money many times, with the exception that he states that the albums aren't classic. Apart from NS, they are.

JumpingKentFlash

After listening to Wild Horses on Stripped enough there is no way it's definitive compared to the original. The original is outstandingly beautiful. Mick's singing on the Stripped version is a bit...off.

When I heard Respectable on NS the first thing that came to my mind was Why can't they play it tight? It sounds like a run through.

Nothing beats the original Respectable imo. WH is beautiful on Stripped, but Mick's singing is not as good as on the original. The reviewer forgot Love Is Strong, imo the best Stones single since Start Me Up.

I agree with the reviewer about Bridges being a somewhat confusing album. Not finished or consistent.